X275

This will be a critical year for the class, as the WCHRA and its racers have worked hard to build this class back up with class sponsors MAGNAFUEL and Head-Up Motorsports. If the first event is any indicator, 2012 may be the year X275 starts to grow in the WCHRA with half the entries at Bakersfield being new to the class! Two of those racers are Jeff and Kevin Young from Idaho, Jeff took the top spot in qualifying with his small block supercharged 1985 Camaro at 4.975/150.68 followed by brother Kevin’s S/C SBC ‘86 Camaro, George Raygoza’s nitrous BBC ‘68 Nova, Mike Orban’s nitrous BBC ‘68 Camaro, D. J. Reid’s S/C SBC ‘68 Camaro, Kelly Henry’s S/C BBC Fox Body, Armen Maghdessian’s N2o SBC ‘62 Vette and Artis Houston’s N2o BBC ‘71.

Eliminations:
Round 1: First pair on the ladder were Orban and Reid, who was running on 28’s for the first time, Orban got away first, .023 to .080, and took the win with a 5.442/139.59 over Reid ’s 6.131/112.29. Kevin Young advanced with a single run (5.108/146.54) when Maghdessian couldn’t make the call after a crash in qualifying. Maghdessian was not hurt and the car is repairable. Henry would also advance to the semi’s on a single run 4.919/150.10, when Raygoza couldn’t make the call after parts failure in qualifying and Houston got the single run when Jeff Young couldn’t make the call.

SEMIS: Both semifinal races would prove to be two of the closest runs of the weekend. In the first pair Kevin Young got the holeshot win over Henry, .080, 5.027 at 151.71 to .142, 5.005 at 148.62. Houston also got the win on a holeshot, .064, 5.375/132.21 over Orban’s .101, 5.361/140.01.

FINALS: Houston got the advantage at the tree, .044 to.124, but shortly after he had to pedal the car and Young pulled away with a WCHRA quickest ever 4.880 at 153.26 mph for the win. That 4.88 would have been enough for the ET record, which Artis Houston holds at 4.92, but racers are required to back it up within 1% during the event. Things are going to get interesting this year with four different combos running within .08 of each other!

OUTLAW 8.5

Qualifying:
For 2012 the WCHRA and its racers decided to combine Lim 10.5 combos with 8.5, with some rule changes, Lim from quarter mile to eighth mile and a weight reduction. We felt these combos could be competitive with their limited HP combos with the 28” tire used in the class. This turned out to be the case with a WCHRA record 20 cars entering the first event with an even 50/50 split between the combos.

Chris Alston’s Chassisworks continued their support as the Outlaw 8.5 class sponsor for 2012. There was some close racing in qualifying with two-time 8.5 Champion Mark Washington taking the #1 spot with a 5.371 at 135.80, just ahead of Gary Brandt’s (Lt5) 5.379/132.35, Tom Daugherty (Lt5) 5.402/131.73, Kevin Keller (Lt5) 5.491/131.50 and Eric Gustafson (8.5) 5.621/134.11. Completing the entrants were Jason Ayers, Dan Hale, Ben Davidow, Adam Noyes, Norm Bartlett, Damon Rivetti, Jim Dimaggio, Dan Tyack, Taro Martinez/Mike Silva, Gordon Saiki, Jim Rios, Mike Saiki, John Gazon, Cedric Washington and Richard Gabel.